Soot blower



Aug. 4, 1936. w JONES 2,049,451

SOOT BLOWER Original Filed April 2, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I! v 19 7 INVENTOR pd m/w iwm dW ATTORNEY?- E. W. JONES 500T BLOWER Original Filed April 2, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS.

E. w. JONES SOOT BLOWER 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed April 2, 1931 ATTORNYEYS Patented Aug. 4, 1935 NETED STATES PATENT OFFICE SOOT BLOWER Application April 2, 1931, Serial No. 527,299. Re-

newed July 11, 1935. In Great Britain May 15,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to soot blowers for removing soot from the tubes of steam generators and is more particularly concerned both with an improved arrangement of the operating mechanish of such blowers and with a system of controlling a number of blowers in a steam gen-- power control which will ensure the complete cleaning of a modern plant without manual labor.

Such soot blowers can be operated either manually, electrically or hydraulically.

Manual operation has the particularly desirable characteristic of reliability but is open to the serious objections of prolonged hard work.

Electrical operation has the objection that either a controlling motor is required for each blower or a central motor is required with mechanical connections, both of which are objectionable; the former on account of multiplicity of motors with expensive reduction gearing requiring constant attention and the latter being impracticable in View of the locality of steam pipes, gratings, etc. The most series objection to electrical operation is that of the heat from the boiler itself which is very detrimental to the insulation both of motors and leads.

The present invention has for its object to avoid these drawbacks and to provide an arrangement of fluid pressure operated blower units wherein a plurality of blower elements may be rotated in succession in one or other direction.

In accordance with the improved arrangement weprovide for operating each blower unit a pair of cylinders accommodating pistons of which the piston rods present racks meshing with a pinion carried by the blower tube, said cylinders being supplied in turn with pressure fluid whereby to effect rotation of the blower element in one direction or the other.

An improved system according to the invention comprises a plurality of such blower units, corresponding cylinders of the several units being interconnected by piping in such manner that as a piston operating one unit moves toward the end of its operative stroke it uncovers a port leading to the corresponding cylinder of another unit whereby said corresponding cylinder is supplied with pressure fluid to operate the relative unit, and so" on in succession throughout the several units of the system.

In accordance with a further feature of the inventionwe provide a means whereby the rams, or pistons are operated in an intermittent or in an irregular manner so as to provide, say, movement of the blower units in short stages or say, a pause in the movement of the blower at one angle and an accelerated movement of the blower over another arc of its movement, whereby for instance 10 to prevent birdnesting.

Conveniently each cylinder of each unit is provided with two ports, one of whichserves alternately as an inlet and as an exhaust port and the other of which is adapted to be unmasked by the piston at the end of its operative stroke to permit pressure fluid to pass to the corresponding cylinder of the next blower unit to be operated.

The fluid pressure can be obtained in many ways: e. g., by a connection from a boiler. feed pipe; by a connection from the economizer inlet, or by a connection from the water space of a steam and water drum.

In each case it will be necessary to provide a small receiver to allow the water to cool, as with high temperature feeds to the economizer the supply to the blower units would flash into steam. Thesmall cooling tank,the contents of which soon dropto boiler-house temperature, should be of sufficient capacity to provide the necessary volume of water for all the blower units.

The supply and exhaust of fluid to and from the cylinders are preferably controlled by a multiple-way valve having pipe connections to two of the'cylinders, a connection to the pressure fluid receiver or cooling tank, and an exhaust connection. There is preferably interposed in the supply conduit between the receiver and the control valve a regulatable needle valve or the like, adjustment of which determines the rate of op- 40 eration of the blower units.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure .1 is an end elevation of a soot blower unit adapted for operation by a pair of hydraulic pistons operating in cylinders fixed to the blower head;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through the blower unit;

Figure 3 shows a fluid circuit diagram for a plurality of blower units;

Figures 3a and 3b are fragmentary detail views showing the hydraulic control valve in different operative positions;

Figure 4 is a. side elevation showing an assembly of blower units on a steam generator;

Figure 5 is a diagram showing a means by which the blowers may be operated in an irregular or intermittent manner; and

Figure 6 is a semi-diagrammatic sectional view showing a part of the structure shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, there are arranged on the blower unit, one at each side of the usual gooseneck l, a pair of cylinders 2, 3 accommodating pistons 4, 5, respectively, integral with piston rods 6 presenting rack teeth I meshing with a gear pinion 8 carried by the usual rotary blower tube 9. It will be understood that the cylinders and pistons replace the usual wheel and chain gearing ordinarily employed for manual operation of the blower unit.

By supplying pressure fluid to the cylinders 2, 3 in turn the blower tube 9 can be rotate-d in either direction as desired.

. Ii] denotes the valve for controlling supply of cleaning steam to the blower unit, said valve being-operated automatically by a cam II carried by the tube 9. l2 denotes the steam supply pipe to the blower units.

Each cylinder is provided at its lower end with a pipe coupling I3, and with a pipe coupling l4 positioned near its upper end.

Corresponding cylinders of a plurality of such blower units are connected-in series by piping as shown in Figure 3, the coupling M of the cylinder 3 of the first blower unit being connected by way of a pipe l5 to the coupling 13 of the cylinder 3 of the second blower unit, the coupling [4 of said cylinder 3 being in turn connected by way of a pipe I5 to the coupling l3 of the cylinder 3 of the third blower unit. The coupling 13 of the cylinder 2 is connected by Way of a pipe Hi to the coupling M of the cylinder 2 and the coupling I3 of the cylinder 2 is connected by way of a pipe I6 to the coupling M of the cylinder 2 The piping circuit may be extended to include any number of blower units.

ll denotes a rotary control valve adapted to control ports I8, I!) in a valve casing 20 having a valve controlled pipe connection 2| with a water received cooling tank 22 connected by Way of a pipe 23 to the water space of a steam and water drum 24 (Figure 4) of a steam generator indicated generally at 25. The ports l8, l9 are connected by way of pipes 26, 21 respectively, to the coupling 13 of the cylinder 2 and to the coupling 13 of the cylinder 3. 28 denotes an exhaust connection from the valve casing 20.

The valve I! is rotatable by means of a handle 29.

As shown in Figure 3 the pistons 5, 5 5 are at the lower end of their travel while the pistons 4', 4 4 are at the upper end of their travel.

When the control valve is in neutral position as shown in Figure 3 the pipes 26, 21 are both open to the exhaust connection 28 and no pressure water passes from the tank 22. If the control valve is partially rotated to the position shown in Figure 3a, pressure water is permitted to flow by way of the pipe 21 to the under side of the piston 5 and causes ascent of said piston to actuate the associated blower unit through the intermediary of the rack and pinion mechanism 1, 8, only the pipe 26 being now open to exhaust. As the piston 5' reaches the top of its stroke it moves beyond its pipe coupling l4'so that pressure water passes to the cylinder 3 to cause operation of the second blower unit, said cylinder 3 in turn allowing pressure water to pass to the cylinder 3 to operate the third blower unit, the operations being repeated in succession throughout any number of blowers.

It will be understood that, each blower tube of each unit is rotated only through a predetermined number of degrees.

In the upward stroke of each of the pistons 5', 5 5 the associated pistons d, 4 4 are depressed, the contents of the cylinder 2 being exhausted into the cylinder 2 and the contents of the cylinder 2 being exhausted into the cylinder 2 and finally'passing by way of the pipe 26 and port l8 to the exhaust pipe 28.

As is understood, when the last blower unit has operated, the cylinders 3, 3 3 are all under pressure but, should the attendant forget to restore the valve H to neutral position, nothing happens.

A device may be provided so that the operation of the last blower unit of the series automatically restores the valve I! to neutral position. Such a device is shown in Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings as comprising a notched plate 50 fixed for movement with the valve IT. A weight 54 secured to the shaft of the valve l! by arm 52 normally tends to return the valve to the neutral position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Disposed above the valve casing is a housing 53 in which a piston 54 is mounted, this piston carrying a plunger 55 adapted to engage any one of the three notches formed in the plate 53. A spring 56 engaging the upper end of the piston tends to urge the latter downwardly to engage the stem 55 with the notches.

Formed in the casing 53 below the piston is a chamber 65, and conduits BI and 62 connect this chamber to the cylinders 2 and 3 respectively,

adjacent the upper ends thereof. Ball check valves 64 are associated with the ends of the conduits 6! and 62 where they open into the chamber 56. The chamber 60 is also provided with a discharge conduit 65, there being a suitable needle valve 66 in this conduit to control the flow of liquid through the same.

In operation, it will be understood that the valve may be moved to either of the positions shown in Figs. 3 or 3 and that the plate l5 moving with this valve will have one of its notches engaged by the stem 55 so that the valve will be held in the position to which it has been moved. After all of the blower elements have been actuated, the chamber 6!) will be placed in communication with the source of fluid under pressure by either the conduit Si or 62, depending upon which set of pistons have been actuated. The fluid under pressure entering chamber 60 will raise the piston 53 against the force exerted on this piston by the spring 55, thus drawing the stem 55 out of engagement with the notch with which it is engaged and thus permitting the valve to return to its neutral position under the influence of the weight 5!. As soon as the valve is returned to its neutral position, the supply of fluid under pressure to the several cylinders and to the chamber 60 will be cut on, and the several cylinders will be connected to the exhaust. The fluid trapped in the chamber 69 will be exhausted by way of the discharge conduit 65; this discharge being regulated by the needle valve 66.

By rotating the valve I! from the Figure 3a to the Figure 3b position, the operation of the blower units is reversed, the pistons 4 4 4' being caused to ascend in succession accompanied" by descent of the pistons 5 5 ,5. lt will be obs'erved that when a piston is at the bottom of its 'stroke it effectively seals the relative pipe coupling l3 and at the top of thestroke the pistons 4 4 '4 are effectively sealed on the faces to (Figure 1). Should a blower unit jam and refuse to function, the remaining units may be permitted to function by removal of a driving pin 39 (Figure 2) on the defective unit, which pin disconnects the gear pinion 8 from the blower tube 9.

As shown in Figure 3, the pipe 2| is controllable by a needle valve H, the adjustment of which determines the rate of operation of the units. The arrangement of piping is such that airlock is eliminated from the system.

The steam supply pipes tothe blower units are not shown in Figure 4 in the interest of clarity.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 5 there is provided in the pipe 2! between the cooling tank 22 and the control valve l? a valve 32, the stem of which carries a follower 33 engaging a rotating cam disc 3% provided with a plurality of cam faces which open and close the valve at short intervals providing a movement of the pistons in jerks in lieu of a gradual movement which is liable to produce leakage of the cylinders. In the embodiment shown the cam is rotated continuously through worm and worm wheel reduction gearing 35, 36 by an electric motor 31, but it may be operated in any other suitable manner. The cam may of course have any selected form. It will be seen that by the provision of a cam controlled valve such as that just described, it is possible to provide movement of the blower units at different speeds over diiferent angles of their arcuate movement. This variation in the speed of movement of the blower units may be utilized to prevent birdnesting.

For the sake of convenience the invention has been described as being embodied in a device for cleaning boilers. It will be apparent, however, that the invention will find equal utility when embodied in devices for cleaning apparatuses similar to boilers, and it is to be therefore understood that the term boiler, wherever used throughout the specification or claims, is to be construed as meaning a fluid heater or heat transfer apparatus of any character and that the term boiler cleaner is to be construed as meaning a cleaner for any such apparatus.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a soot blower system, a pair of rotatable blower elements, a piston operatively associated with each blower element for rotating the same,

a cylinder mounting each piston, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to one of said cylinders to actuate the piston therein, and means operable upon a predetermined movement of the piston in said first mentioned cylinder to effect a supply of pressure fluid from said first mentioned cylinder to the other cylinder to actuate the piston therein.

2. In a soot blower system, a plurality of rotatable blower elements, a piston operatively connected to each blower element for rotating the same, a cylinder for each piston, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to one of said cylinders, and means for successively placing the remaining cylinders in communication with said first mentioned cylinder for supplyingfluid under pressure from said first mentioned cylinder to the remaining cylinders of said system.

3. In a soot blower system, a pair of rotatable blower elements, a piston operatively connected toeach blower element for-rotating the same, a cylinder for each piston, a connection between said cylinders; and means for supplying a fluid under pressure to one of said cylindersto move the piston therein the piston in this cylinder constituting a valve for controlling the flow of fluid under pressure from this cylinder by way of said connection to the other cylinder.

4. In a soot blowing system, a plurality of movable blower elements, a piston associated with each blower element for moving the same, a cylinder for each piston, means providing for communication between each cylinder and the next adjacent cylinder of said system, and means for supplying a fluid under pressure to the first cylinder of said system to move the piston therein. the pistons in said cylinders being so arranged to control communication between adjacent cylinders of said system that fluid under pressure is supplied to each cylinder of said system only after the piston in the preceding cylinder of said system has been moved to a predetermined position.

5. In a. soot blower system, a plurality of rotatable blower elements, a cylinder associated with each blower element, a piston in each cylinder operatively connected to the blower element associated with its respective cylinder for rotating the same, means for supplying a fluid under pressure to the first cylinder of said system to move the piston therein, and connections between adjacent cylinders of said system, said connections being controlled by the pistons in said cylinders and being so arranged that upon movement of said pistons fluid under pressure is successively supplied to all the cylinders of said system from said first mentioned cylinder.

6. In combination, a plurality of movable .blower elements, a fluid pressure actuated means associated with each blower element for moving the same, means for supplying fluid under pressure to one of said fluid pressure actuated means, and connections between said fluid pressure actuated means so arranged that fluid under pressure supplied to the one fluid pressure actuated means is successively supplied to the remaining fluid pressure actuated means upon the completion of the actuation of each preceding fluid pressure actuated means.

7. In combination, a plurality of movable blower elements, a piston operatively connected to each blower element for moving the same, a cylinder housing each piston, each cylinder being provided with an inlet port by which fluid may be admitted to the cylinder to move the piston and each cylinder being further provided with an outlet port through which fluid under pressure may flow from the cylinder upon a predetermined movement of the piston in the cylinder, and means so connecting the outlet port of each cylinder to the inlet port of an adjacent cylinder that when fluid under pressure is supplied to the inlet port of one cylinder the fluid will flow from this cylinder successively to the remaining cylinders upon the successive actuation of the several pistons.

8. In combination a plurality of blower elements'mounted for oscillation, means associated with each blower element for oscillating the same, a control for said operating means, and connections between said several operating means operating upon actuation of said control to cause all of said blower elements to move successively in one direction and upon further actuation of said control to then cause all of said blower elements to successively move in the other direction.

9. In a soot blower system, a pair of rotatable blower elements, a piston operatively associated with each blower element for rotating the same, a cylinder mounting each piston, means for supplying a fluid under pressure in a series of puffs to one of said cylinders to actuate the piston therein, and means operable upon a predetermined movement of the piston in said first mentioned cylinder to eject a supply of pressure fluid from said first mentioned cylinder to the other cylinder to actuate the piston therein.

EDWIN WALTER JONES. 

